you and i between nothing and no one

or wolves in the frozen sunlight at
the forest’s edge gnawing on
ernst’s bones,
or the delicate lattice of frost
spun across the flowers that
grow in the shadows there

one war
and then the next

time set aside to bury the bodies 

to bulldoze them into
gasoline-soaked piles

and the children waving flags die
just as easily as their mothers
and fathers,
and it’s important to remember
in this age of enlightenment and greed
that someone, somewhere, felt 
these deaths were absolutely
necessary for a brighter future

felt that the book sales would justify
them or that box office success
was guaranteed,
and so i kissed her breasts in the
silence of some grey tuesday morning
while she made small sounds
against the frozen air

ran my lips up the insides of
her thighs and
confused desire with truth

felt the warmth of hope replaced
by the fear of loss

knew right then how fucked up
this would all be in the end